The New York Rangers are going to enter the All Star break winners of 16 of 19, including streaks of eight in a row, five in a row, and three in a row. Last night’s come-from-behind victory over the Ottawa Senators was a classic trap game that the Rangers overcame. After taking the lead on a Kevin Hayes goal early in the second, the Sens came back for two quick goals on two defensive miscues to take the lead. The trap game narrative was in full effect at that point. Then Chris Kreider beat his man to the net for the tying goal, and Carl Hagelin did the same for the overtime winner.

Henrik Lundqvist was brilliant, stopping 33 shots –including several point-blank chances– for the win. The Rangers went 0-for-3 on the powerplay, but won 58% of their faceoffs and were better at getting quality chances. The Sens are a bad team, but they have that top-end skill that can make a team pay, and they almost did. But the good guys pulled through.

On to the goals:

Rangers 1, Sens 0

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Hank made a great save on a prime Sens chance, and then the Ranger turned the play up the ice. Jesper Fast gained the zone with a nice carry in while fighting off Bobby Ryan. He circled behind the net and eventually gave the puck to Hayes. Hayes got tied up, but Hagelin was there with great puck support to get the puck to Dan Girardi at the point. When this happened, Hayes circled to the slot behind the Sens. Girardi got his shot on net, and Hayes was uncontested for the rebound.

Sens 1, Rangers 1

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Fast turned the puck over at the Sens blue line, and it created all sorts of chaos for the Rangers. Kyle Turris fed Erik Condra –who got behind the defense– for the first opportunity which Hank stopped. No Ranger skater got the rebound, and all five got caught watching as the Sens worked the puck behind the net, out to the circle, then across the “Royal Road” to Erik Karlsson for the goal.

Sens 2, Rangers 1

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This is just an epic PK fail. Both Girardi and Ryan McDonagh are at fault here. There’s no reason why Milan Michalek should be this open here.

Rangers 2, Sens 2

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Dan Boyle started this by gaining control of the puck in the defensive zone and calmly finding Martin St. Louis on the boards. MSL outletted to Marc Staal for the zone entry as Kreider beat his man to gain space. Staal hit him with a perfect pass, and Kreider tied the game.

Rangers 3, Sens 2

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Dominic Moore forced the turnover in the neutral zone, followed quickly by Hagelin grabbing the puck and gaining the zone. Hags found Girardi as pressure got to him, and Girardi got the puck to McDonagh, barely. McD pushed the puck to Derek Stepan, but Stepan had to stop to grab the puck, pull a spin-o-rama, and hit Hags –who was behind the defense at this point– for the east deflection winner.

Fenwick Chart:

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The game itself was pretty boring for a while, but picked up late. It was also relatively even, with Ottawa hold just a 52% FF advantage.

Scoring Chances:

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Despite the Sens holding the general shot attempt advantage, the Rangers got more quality chances against the Sens.

Individual Corsi:

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Above the 0 line is a positive puck possession game. The Rangers were about even for the game, and this chart reflects that individually.

Shift Chart:

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The McDonagh/Girardi pairing got the Turris line, which shouldn’t shock people. The interesting matchup was Karlsson on Kreider, as few can match Kreider’s speed. Karlsson shut him down a few times on potential chances. It was very fun to see someone who could keep up with Kreider, it’s so rare.

Shot Locations:

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This is the chart we are used to seeing. The Rangers limited quality chances for the Sens, as the high quality areas are mostly blank. That’s been a theme across this 16 of 19 streak: Limiting quality chances.

The Rangers are entering the All Star break in a great place. They are pretty much guaranteed a playoff spot. They have games in hand on all those in the division. They have games in hand on most in the conference. The Rangers next play on Tuesday against the Isles, which is another big four point swing game. This has been a good run.

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